


Without Any Faith

by Lapin



Series: Youth [2]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Abusive Relationship, Brothels, F/M, M/M, Past Abuse, Sexual Abuse, Substance Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-05
Updated: 2012-10-05
Packaged: 2017-11-15 17:21:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/529692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lapin/pseuds/Lapin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The relationship between Shady Shin and Lightning Bolt Zolt isn't what it appears to be. But Shin's got nowhere else to go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Without Any Faith

**Author's Note:**

  * For [jonphaedrus](https://archiveofourown.org/users/jonphaedrus/gifts).



> A/N So, for Drift's wedding, I offered him a story. He wanted more Triad, or Lightning Bolt Zolt and Shin. Well, I had always planned on exploring their relationship, but um. Hm. It was never meant to be a happy one.

On the rooftop, Taruk perched like a bird, as he waited. What he was waiting for, he didn't know. He felt like he should wait here though. 

When he was this high, he could see the whole inner courtyard of the house, and the rooftops beyond. He had dared to venture over a whole four buildings away so far, before he had turned back. Everyone told him he could leave anytime he wanted, explore all he liked, but he still wasn't so sure about that. It was a little too scary, outside the house. The city was loud, and there were so many people, and the cars! He had never seen a car before, and he wasn't sure he liked them. They were very noisy. 

On this part of the roof, he was above a private guest room. He could hear the arguing inside. It was the Boss, and Shin. They always argued, but it was always about the same three things, as far as he could tell. 

He liked it when he could lie across the roof above Hwan's balcony better. He could hear Hwan and Reza then, and they were always nice to each other. Reza called Hwan beautiful all the time, and sometimes Hwan told Reza stories, nice ones about when he was young. Taruk liked to listen. He had brothers and sisters too, but he didn't remember their names like Hwan remembered his.

But he couldn't get down to the second roof unseen just yet. He had to wait until it was later, when people were asleep. He'd get in trouble if someone caught him, and he didn't want to get punished. He didn't like that.

“Stop treating me like a kid, Zolt!” Shin yelled, and Taruk wanted to cover his ears. He hated shouting. It made him anxious.

“You are a kid! And a stupid one!” The Boss scared Taruk a lot. He seemed like he could be really mean if he felt like it. Taruk didn't like it when people were mean. “You think just because I'm fucking you, you can do whatever you want? You need a reminder about who exactly is in charge here?” 

“I don't want to do whatever I want! I want you to stop treating me like I'm your whore! I'm Triad, been Triad. I don't need you locking me up in your stupid penthouse like I'm a pet, alright? I can handle myself.”

Shin sounded really mad too now, and even when Taruk covered his ears, he could hear them. 

“I'll treat you however I want, you little slut. I'm the boss, and you'll do as I say, you got me?” 

There was movement, clothing, and then the hard slapping sound of skin on skin. Taruk's eyes widened as he curled into a ball. He hoped it was Zolt that had hit Shin, because if Shin hit Zolt again, he'd hurt him again like he did last time they fought like this here. Taruk didn't want to hear that. 

“Fuck you!” That was Shin shouting, and there was movement below again. “Don't you slap me around like I'm one of the whores! You want to do that, you go fuck one of them!” Taruk hoped Zolt didn't. He liked Water Tribe, and Taruk was one of the only pure blooded Water Tribe here. He didn't want Zolt to hit him. He was bigger than Taruk, and a lot stronger. 

There was more movement, a lot of movement, and then Shin cried out in pain. Taruk scrunched into himself, pushing the fabric of his sleeves into his ears. He could still hear it though, could still hear them insulting each other, hurting each other. He didn't like that. 

It finally stopped though, when someone knocked on the door. The voice was too deep for him to make out the words, so that meant it was Lieu, and now it would all stop. Lieu kept talking, and Zolt kept answering, but Shin wasn't talking at all. He hoped Shin was okay, that Zolt hadn't really hurt him.

Movement, a different kind, alerted Taruk to someone coming near, but there was nowhere for him to hide. 

Shin boosted himself up onto the roof. His lip was swelling up, and his whole cheek was red. He spit blood over the side of the roof, standing on the edge. He was much taller than Taruk, and skinnier. Taruk didn't think he was full Water Tribe, but he thought it would be rude to ask. 

“What the fuck are you doing up here?” He hissed, when he noticed Taruk. 

“Waiting.” Taruk answered, shrugging. Shin looked really mad. He hoped he wasn't going to hurt him because of it. Taruk hadn't even done anything. 

Shin sneered. “For what?”

“I don't know.” Taruk shrugged again. “Maybe I'm waiting for you.” He's not sure. He's never sure. 

“Are you like, crazy, or something?” Shin looked a little wary now, his hands in his pockets as he leaned forward a little. Like Taruk, his balance was impeccable, even on the tiles of the roof. “I'm a pretty good bender, you know. Don't be coming at me with a shiv or nothing.” 

Taruk tipped his head to the side in confusion. “What's a shiv?” 

“Never mind.” Shin still seemed kind of leery of Taruk, and he didn't understand that. No one was ever scared of Taruk. “You smoke?”

“No.” Taruk shook his head. “Not anymore. See, I used to have a client back in the Capital, we called him Mr. Bear, because he was really big and his hair was really fluffy, and he wore this great big polar bear dog skin,” Taruk held his arms out to show just how big Mr. Bear had been. “And Mr. Bear used to make me smoke matak, because he liked it when I was sleepy and stuff, but it made me really sick, so I don't smoke anymore. Hwan said it was bad for me.” 

Taruk thought Hwan was telling the truth. He hated smoking matak, the gross mix of opium and tobacco that Mr. Bear favored. It made his stomach turn, and he always had a really awful headache, and sometimes a fever. 

“You're complaining about a free fix? What kind of whore are you?” Shin pulled a shiny silver case out of his jacket. “And I just meant cigarettes. They got like, cloves in 'em. But that's it.” 

Taruk shook his head. “They make me puke.” 

“Thanks for sharing.” Shin said, sitting down beside Taruk. “What do they call you again?”

“Taruk. It means 'young pup'. Big Mistress gave it to me when I was six. She didn't like my first name. She said it was a bad name for a whore.” He didn't remember that name. 

Shin lit his cigarette, staring at Taruk. “So you were getting screwed when you were a kid? Man, that's messed up.” 

Taruk wiggled his toes in his shoes, trying to understand. “I didn't have sex when I was six, if that's what you mean. I just got taught stuff. How to play music and be nice and not make people mad and not run away.” Shin exhaled smoke, and Taruk wrinkled his nose, before perking up. “I can play six instruments!” He held up six fingers. 

“Good for you.” Shin sniffed. 

His face was really getting swollen, so Taruk took off his scarf and leaned over the edge of the roof. He cracked some icicles off, and wrapped them up in it, then crushed it under his palms so it was all nice and soft. He pressed it to Shin's face with a smile. “It'll go down if you ice it. Then it won't hurt so bad over the next few days.” 

“Right.” Shin muttered, and he looked grouchy, but he let Taruk keep doing it. “How old are you?”

“Fifteen. I just had my birthday.” 

“And you're from the North, right?” Taruk nodded at him. “So you and me, we'd be men in the North Pole, right? No one could treat us like kids.” 

Now Taruk shook his head. “I'm not a free man, so no.” He used his empty hand to pull his trouser leg up, so Shin could see the blue cuff tattooed around his calf. “See?”

“So, I got ink too.” Shin yanked his parka up over his head, dislodging Taruk a bit, so that his bare back briefly showed in the cold night. He had a great big demon on his back, cutting down another one, with lots of pretty clouds around. He let it fall back, and frowned at Taruk, snatching away his scarf with the ice and crushing it to his own face. 

“But yours is just 'cause you want it. Mine means I'm a whore, and I belong to a house.” He'd gotten it when he was six, and he'd cried a whole lot, because it had really hurt. “I don't belong to it anymore though. They traded me to here.” Here, where he could venture beyond the walls of the house if he so chose, could go to stores and parks and stuff. “But anyway, it means I can't do a lot of stuff.” 

Shin breathed in, and the light on the end of his cigarette glowed really bright.

Taruk decided to keep talking. He didn't think Shin wanted quiet. He had that anxious twitch to him people got sometimes when they were really sad, and that meant they wanted to hear stuff. “I had a client named Takku, and he had great big ones on his wrists and his ankles, because he'd been in prison. He wasn't allowed to live in a lot of places anymore because of them. He was really nice to me. He never hit me or anything, and he'd tell me stories. He brought me books too, but I wasn't allowed to keep them. Big Mistress said they were too nice for a whore. Takku got mad about that too, and he still didn't hit me, so he was _really_ nice.” He missed Takku. No one had been nice to him here like he had been. “Zhi buys me a lot here, and he says he wants to make me his moll, whatever that means, but I hope he doesn't, because Zhi's not nice at all. He burned me last time, and he laughed, but it wasn't funny, because it hurt, and see, the healer couldn't get it all.” 

When he pulled his sleeve back and showed Shin, the other man swore. “Holy shit, that fucker scarred you. What the fuck did he do that for?” 

“I struggled too much.” Stupid mistake, but his hands had really hurt Taruk, so he'd wanted to get away. “I'm going to ask Hwan's friend, the really smart healer. Maybe he can make it go away some more.” Taruk liked him. He was nice. “Zolt doesn't use fire on you?” 

“No!” Shin snapped. “Let's get that straight, alright, I'm not like you. I'm no one's bitch. I get him back good. And he won't bend at me, because he knows I'll freeze his stupid ass to the ground.” 

Taruk wriggled his toes again. His pants weren't tucked in right now, and the fabric felt funny against his leg. “Okay.” 

Shin was crying, so Taruk let him put his head in his lap, and held the ice in place. “He fucked some whore at the White Lily House.” The other boy said, into Taruk's pants leg. “I told him I wouldn't be okay with that, I didn't need to get played like that, but then he goes and does it anyway, and he thinks saying he's sorry will make it better? Fuck him, I don't need his shit.” 

Taruk didn't think he was supposed to talk now, so he just kept quiet, and held Shin close while he cried. He'd had clients who had never wanted to do anything other than this, let him hold them. They were always really sad people, so Taruk had always held him them really tight, so they'd feel better. 

“He keeps me locked up in that penthouse like I can't take care of myself, like I'm his pet. And then he goes and screws a bunch of fucking whores, and then he says it don't mean nothing because he loves me, like that fixes anything.” He rubbed his hand over his face. “I don't want to be with him no more.” 

Even Taruk knew it wasn't that simple. Zolt was the Boss. He didn't think Shin was allowed to leave him. So he didn't say anything about it. “Takku used to tell me a story. It was my favorite. Do you want to hear it?” 

“'Kay.” Shin said with a sniff. 

“A long time ago, there was a boy named Pikku. He was a warrior, and he was a very good warrior. He had many wolfskins that he wore into battle, but he did not have a polar bear dog skin, much as he wanted one. He was a very mean, arrogant boy, and he thought he deserved one, even though we deserve nothing in this world. He ignored the teachings of the warriors, that said you must earn what you want, and accept what you have.

“So one day, he undertook a great journey across the tundra, to find a polar bear dog skin. His journey was not in vain, for he found one, but it was too young. He decided to wait and see if there were more. Finally, a big one appeared, the cub's mother. A true warrior would have stayed his hand, but Pikku didn't care that the cub still needed its mother. He froze it in place, and took his club, and smashed its head in.” Taruk never liked that part, and Takku had always smiled at him when he frowned at it, and pulled him closer into his arms. He missed that. “But just as he went to kill the cub as well, the body of the mother suddenly rose up, alive again, and she stood on her hind legs, like a human! She looked down upon him, her eyes glowing, and Pikku realized she was no polar bear dog, she was a spirit. 'Pikku,' she said. 'You have shown no mercy for those weaker than yourself, for you are blinded by your own greed. You wish for my skin? So you shall wear it, until you learn what you have obviously forgotten.' And Pikku suddenly grew fur and claws, and he became large, and he could not stand on his legs anymore. He fell to the snow on all fours, and realized he was no longer a man. Now he too was a polar bear dog.” 

Takku had managed to give him one thing he was allowed to keep, the choker around his neck with the pattern of white polar bear dogs worked against a brown background. He touched it now, remembering the story. 

“Pikku wandered for many nights and days, until the long night came. He was alone, and cold, and he missed his brothers. But he did not dare try to go home, for fear they would kill him. So he remained alone. But one day, he stumbled across another young warrior. He was Pikku's rival, and they had long hated each other. But he was alone too, and without supplies. Pikku was tempted to use his new form to slay this boy, but then he thought it would be unfair. The other warrior was freezing, and without weapons.”

Takku had always held Taruk very, very close during this part of the story, so that he was almost whispering it in Taruk's ear. 

“He felt badly for him. To die in the snow, all alone, had been what he himself had been afraid of while he was all alone out there during the long night. So instead of killing him, he curled his great weight around the other boy, shielding him from the snow, and keeping him warm. Over the next few days, the other warrior, whose name was Urru, got better, as Pikku brought him game to eat, and kept him warm . It was nice to have company again. But the time came when Urru was well enough to move, so Pikku allowed him on his back, and carried him back to people.

“When the warriors saw Pikku, they raised their spears, but Urru stopped them. He begged mercy of them on Pikku's behalf, telling them how Pikku had saved his life, so now he had to return the favor. And it was that show of mercy that broke the spirit's curse. Pikku was again a man.” Taruk smiled. “And he and Urru were no longer rivals, but brothers now, for Pikku had learned to love instead of compete.” 

Taruk smiled up at the moon, tapping his feet. Shin had stopped crying in his lap, so that was good. “That's a nice story.” Shin said. 

“It was my favorite. Takku used to tell me it, if I asked really nicely.” 

“Was Takku your old man?” 

Taruk didn't understand that. “He wasn't old.”

“No, that's not what I mean, I mean like, was he your man, you know? Did you love him?” Shin asked, sitting up. 

“I'm not allowed to love my clients.” He answered, because he wasn't. “But Takku was going to buy me, he promised. But the owner sold me to the city instead, so,” he shrugged, “here I am.” He would have liked being Takku's. “He was nice. I could have at least pretended I loved him pretty well.”

“I love Zolt.” Shin said, pushing his face into Taruk's shoulder. “But he ain't always nice.” 

“He doesn't seem very nice.” Taruk agreed. 

“He won't let me leave. I tried. He found me and brought me back.” 

Taruk took off his shoe, not bothered by the cold, and showed Shin the brand that was on the ball of his foot. “I ran away once, when I was thirteen. My first time hurt bad, so I tried to leave, but they found me. I got this brand for punishment, on both my feet. I couldn't walk for a little while either.” 

Shin stared with wide eyes, but it wasn't like it hurt anymore. Taruk put his shoe back on. It wasn't a very good brand, because he'd struggled a lot, so he didn't like to look at it. “Zolt didn't do nothing like that. He was real nice to me, after he brought me back.” Shin was playing with his lighter now. “I joined the Triple Threat when I was fourteen, you know. I've always been a real good fighter, and I'm good at other stuff too. Always was. And Zolt was always real good to me.” He rubbed his face and put his lighter away. “When he said he wanted me, I didn't mind. I thought it'd be nice, someone taking care of me for once. But it ain't all that nice anymore.”

“Is that why you tried to leave?” Taruk asked. 

“I left because he can't keep his dick in his pants.” Shin muttered. “I'm not a whore. He can't treat me like one. Can't kiss whores.” 

“I kiss.” Taruk said, frowning. He didn't understand that. Hwan kissed Reza all the time too, which Taruk really didn't get, because he said he didn't kiss anyone. But Taruk had seen him kissing Reza in the kitchen. 

Now Shin perked up, his eyes narrowing in interest. “You kiss?” Taruk nodded.

“Do you want to kiss me?” He asked. He didn't think Shin did, but maybe he wanted someone to be nice to him. So Taruk cupped his face, and kissed him on the mouth. Shin sort of kissed him back, but then he pulled away, and Taruk let him. 

He slumped against Taruk again, so Taruk wrapped his arms around him and held him tight. Taruk wasn't sure what Shin wanted to hear, so he said nothing, and stroked Shin's hair. People liked that. “I ain't got any family. I got no one to protect me. The Triad is all I got. And Zolt is all I got.” Taruk understood that, he thought. He didn't have anyone either. “Do you leave the house here? You're allowed, you know.” 

“No.” Taruk kept stroking his hair. He seemed really tired now. “It's too scary, out there.”

“Yeah.” Shin said. “It kinda is, isn't it?”


End file.
